B. How to Use This Book

This book contains short explanations of the key terms and concepts used in intellectual property law. It is separated into four self-contained parts, each of which is targeted to one of the main intellectual property law categories. The four parts are:

Part 1: Trade Secret Law

Part 2: Copyright Law

Part 3: Patent Law, and

Part 4: Trademark Law.

You’ll find a short overview of the category at the beginning of each part, followed by an alphabetical list of terms defined in that part. We also provide a number of useful lists and charts of additional information, as well as some samples of official forms that apply to each topic.

1. What legal rights apply to your creative work?

If you are concerned with a creation of your own, you’ll first need to know what form (or forms) of intellectual property applies to it in order to get to the right part of this book. These basic rules should point you in the right direction:

• Trade secrets consist of designs, devices, processes, compositions, techniques, formulas, information or recipes that are kept secret by their owner and which give their owner a competitive business advantage. (See Part 1: Trade Secret Law.)

• Copyrights protect original and tangible forms of expressing creative ideas, but not the ideas themselves. A creative nonfunctional design may be copyrightable. (See Part 2: Copyright Law.)

• Utility patents apply to new processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, or new uses of any of the above if they are novel, nonobvious and useful. (See Part 3: Patent Law.)

• Design patents apply to unique and ornamental shapes or designs that are also nonfunctional. (See Part 3: Patent Law.)

• Plant patents may be issued for any asexually or sexually reproducible plants (such as flowers) that are both novel and unobvious. (See Part 3: Patent Law.)

• Trademarks apply to marketing devices: the name of a product or service or the symbols, logos, shapes, designs, sounds or smells used to identify them. They must be distinctive or have become well known through long use or advertising. (See Part 4: Trademark Law.)

• Unfair competition is a legal theory that extends protection to certain kinds of intellectual property when trademark, copyright and patent law don’t apply. It applies when one business represents its products or services in a way that confuses customers and stops them from buying from another business. (See Part 4: Trademark Law.)

2. Use of intellectual property laws chart

Below, we’ve provided a detailed chart to further help you identify the applicable law. The chart lists categories of creations, followed by indications of what sorts of intellectual property laws generally apply.

Creative Work				Applicable Legal Rights
	Trade Secret	Copyright	Patent	Trademark	Unfair Competition	No Rights
advertisement (billboard, card, flyer, sign)		▀		▀
advertising copy		▀
architectural drawings, renderings		▀
arrangement of facts		▀
artwork (see specific entries)		▀		▀
biography		▀
biological inventions	▀		▀
blueprints		▀
book design				▀		▀
book titles						▀
carpet design			▀	▀
cartoons		▀		▀
characters—animated		▀		▀
characters—books						▀
characters—comic strips		▀		▀
characters—TV or movies						▀
charts		▀
chemical inventions	▀		▀
choreographed works		▀
clothing accessories and designs (belts, hats, scarves, suspenders)			▀
comic strips		▀		▀
commercial names				▀	▀
computers	▀		▀
containers			▀	▀
cosmetics	▀		▀
databases		▀
decorative hardware			▀	▀
design (see specific entries)		▀	▀	▀
drawings		▀
electrical inventions	▀		▀
electronic inventions	▀		▀
engineering plans		▀
etchings		▀
fabric	▀		▀
fabric design		▀	▀	▀
facts						▀
flowcharts	▀	▀
food inventions	▀		▀
forms		▀
formulas—chemical	▀		▀
formulas—cosmetic	▀		▀
formulas—food	▀		▀
furniture design			▀	▀
games—board, box and instructions		▀	▀	▀
hardware			▀	▀
housewares			▀	▀
ideas by themselves	▀
interior design		▀		▀
Internet domain names				▀
jewelry		▀	▀	▀
labels				▀
landscape designs		▀	▀
laser light show	▀	▀
law of nature						▀
lectures		▀
lithographs		▀
logos				▀	▀
machines	▀		▀
machines—internal parts	▀		▀
magazines		▀		▀
magic tricks or techniques	▀		▀
manufacturing process			▀
maps		▀
mathematical algorithms	▀
mechanical inventions medical accessories, devices	▀		▀
(splints, braces, supports)		▀	▀
method of doing business	▀		▀
movie—film or video		▀
movie—plot (not written)	▀
movie—script	▀	▀
movie—treatment	▀	▀
murals		▀
musical composition		▀
musical instrument		▀	▀
names—business				▀	▀
names—entertainer/celebrity				▀	▀
names—famous animals				▀
names—product or service				▀	▀
odors—new use/process	▀		▀
odors—used in marketing				▀
packaging			▀	▀
paintings		▀
pamphlets		▀
periodicals		▀		▀
photographic processes	▀		▀
photographs		▀
plants and plant inventions	▀		▀
plays—written or performances		▀
pottery		▀		▀
prints		▀
project designs	▀	▀
radio programs		▀		▀
record books		▀
recreational gear			▀	▀
reproductions		▀
schedules		▀
scientific treatises		▀	▀
sculpture		▀
shapes			▀	▀
shoes			▀	▀
signs		▀		▀	▀
slogans				▀	▀
software	▀	▀	▀
software titles				▀
songs—jingles for marketing		▀		▀	▀
songs—not written or recorded	▀
songs—recorded or written		▀
sounds—new ways to make	▀		▀
sounds—original sequence		▀
sounds—used in marketing				▀	▀
sporting goods—designs		▀	▀	▀
sporting goods—equipment			▀
stained glass		▀
structural plans		▀
symbols				▀	▀
titles—books, plays					▀
titles—magazines				▀	▀
titles—movies, songs, TV shows					▀
toys		▀	▀	▀
translations		▀
videotape		▀
wallpaper design		▀
weavings	▀	▀		▀
Web pages		▀		▀	▀
words by themselves writing—articles, essays, poems,						▀
novels, short stories, nonfiction books		▀